Click on Series -> click the icon -> select the cell (do this for all the series you want to use in your error bars).

Sheets will automatically assign different colors to the specific values you entered (if there aren’t any different colors then it means that your data is not inserted correctly).

Select the Customize tab -> expand series -> tick the box next to the Error bars option -> choose a percentage or exact value from the drop-down menu.

After this process is completed -> save your document.

If you expand your graph you will now be able to see the error bars represented.

In today’s how to article we discussed the best way to add error bars inside your Google Sheets documents. This option will enable you to observe any differences in values visually, represented as a graph.

We hope this guide helped you understand how to add these important elements to your documents.

Please feel free to let us know if this guide helped with a clear answer, by using the comment section found below.

FAQ: Read more about Error Bars in Excel

How do I add error bars to just one bar?

Copy your error values and get them all in a row. Go to Layout > Error bars > More error bar options > select the series you want to do first > Custom/specify value. Then highlight the cells that correspond to the data points in your series from the row you just made.

What do Error bars show?

Error bars are used for giving you a general idea of how precise a measurement is, or how far it is from a true value. Error bars are graphical representations used on graphs to indicate the error or uncertainty in a reported measurement.

What do long error bars mean?

The length of an Error Bar gives you the level of uncertainty of a data point. A short one means that those values are concentrated, and a long Error Bar indicates that the values are more spread out and less reliable.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in August 2019 and has been since revamped and updated in May 2020 for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.